Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Holiday Romance - Off-Duty Christmas by Tammy Tate

Interview with Author Tammy Tate

·What is your book about?

Off-Duty Christmas is about Kaitlyn, a police dispatcher
who lost her parents in a plane crash and refuses to let anyone get close to
her. The thought of losing someone she cares deeply for again terrifies her. She
was an only child so she doesn’t have siblings to help fill the void.

Christmas is right around the corner and all she
can think about is pouring more hours into her work schedule to make it pass
quickly. She buries herself in twelve hour shifts to forget how lonely she is
without family.

Her best friend, Officer Gina Jordan convinces her
into doing the unthinkable. She’s rented a remote cabin in the snow covered
mountains and invited Kaitlyn to go. Ethan, another Officer with the department
invites himself. A few days before they are about to leave, Gina is introduced
to the handsome new Game Warden in town known as Bryce. He’s taking the place
of a retiring veteran in the area and she asks him to come along.

While at the cabin, Kaitlyn finds herself falling
in love with Bryce despite the fact that he has one of the most dangerous
professions out there. Nine out of ten people he’ll come into contact with,
will have a gun. By allowing herself to love him, she’s upped the odds of possibly
losing another loved one.

·What inspired you to write this
particular story (and/or series)?

With the upcoming holiday’s, I wanted to write
something cheery. Since I was a police dispatcher for seven years, I thought,
why not combine the two elements. The story begins in the dispatch arena
because that was familiar territory for me. The characters sprang to life before
my eyes to tell their story.

·Describe your writing in three
words.

Romance, humor, compassion

·Do you have specific techniques
you use to develop the plot and stay on track?

When I wrote this book, I had three goals in mind.
Law Enforcement, vacation and Christmas. When my publisher asked for Christmas
stories 10-14k word count, I had to make things happen fast without sacrificing
the romantic attributes. Which meant I needed to get Kaitlyn, Gina, Ethan and
Bryce outside of the workplace. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for romance when
you work twelve hour shifts.

·Was there any research involved
in your work?

Yes, but not where most might think. Police lingo,
terminology and procedure came natural since I’d worked in that environment.

But I was completely clueless in regards to
snowmobiles. I’ve lived in Florida and southeast Texas most of my life. I
haven’t seen much snow, much less snowmobiles. That required research and that’s
where the internet came in handy. YouTube was a blessing. I watched snowmobiles
in action and got to see how they carve through the snow, blast through a snow
drift, and even raise up into the air. There were also videos to show me how to
load them on a trailer. I was especially fascinated to learn you could skim one
across the water like a jet ski. If the motor dies, it will float. Not like a
jet ski, but at least it won’t sink.

·What authors inspire or influence
your work?

About twenty years ago a friend of mine handed me my
first romance novel. Of course, my initial reaction was I didn’t have time to
set down and read it. I had a husband, six horses, two Rottweilers and three
kids, need I say more?

One night, I picked it up and started to read.
Needless to say, I found it captivating and never made it to bed that night.
Janelle Taylor was the author and it was part of her Ecstasy series. After I
finished it, I found out it was part three. The real kicker was, it wasn’t a
new series so locating the others was a challenge. I probably hit every used
book store in a hundred mile radius until I got my hands on all eight of them.

From that day on, I was hooked. Then, one day I
told my husband I wanted to write a romance novel of my own. He didn’t bat an
eye. We went out and bought a Brother’s word processor. I even wrote a short
letter to Mrs. Taylor, told her who I was and what I was doing and that I
absolutely loved her books. I asked for advice. She hand wrote me a response
and I framed it and hung it on the wall near my desk for inspiration. Thank you
Mrs. Taylor…

·Share the biggest hurdles in the
marketing process.

For me, the biggest hurdle in marketing has to be to
find time to do it. My brain wants to write. It’s relentless. It constantly tosses
good ideas at me and I want to get them down.

But I actually think marketing is easier today
because there’s so many avenues thanks to the internet. There’s blogs,
Facebook, Twitter just to name a few. It’s much easier to reach out and connect
with people.

I promote myself nearly everywhere I go. I have a car
magnet on the back of my SUV that says “You better be careful, you might be in
my next novel”. It’s free marketing. Although, my husband might beg to differ,
because at some point I paid for the magnet but I tell him, it’s not
disposable. I can use it over and over…

I had a pizza delivered one night and he asked if
a writer lived here. He saw the car magnet when he approached my house. I have
shirts that boldly state I’m a romance writer and I wear them proudly. Almost
always, someone will initiate a conversation and before long I have a new fan. It’s
a very humbling experience. I eat, drink and sleep writing and I’m passionate when
I talk about it.

·Share with us your biggest
hurdles in the writing process?

The biggest hurdle for me has to be, to drag
myself out of my office, kicking and screaming so I can get laundry and
housework done. I’ve heard some authors complain about writers block. My imagination
spurs me on so I haven’t experienced that yet. That’s what I love about
fiction, in my world anything can happen and usually does.

My second biggest hurdle has to be, when I write a
love scene. Back in the day when I began to write, the romance publishers I
geared toward had requirements in regards to love scenes. They needed to be
included, they had to be tastefully written and by the time your characters engage
in that beautiful ‘heart-felt’ moment of passion the reader would tearfully jump
to their feet and shout “YES”! That’s a tall order. It takes practice and a lot
of back spacing. Believe me, word choice and timing is everything.

The third hurdle has to be the element of surprise
at the end of each of the Spirit Path installments. They are akin to a monster
flick. Just when you think the creature is dead, his eyes pop open right before
the credits roll up on the screen. It kick starts the next addition. You know
there will be a sequel. Not only that, I get to hit the ground running when I
start the next installment with an intense opening.

·Is there anything else you would
like to say to your readers?

I would love to say thank you for your support and
kind words in regards to my work. And please… keep them coming. It warms my
heart when I hear you’ve enjoyed my books as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.
Inquiries are constantly coming in asking when to expect my next one. I love it.
To me, that means you desire more and I have so much more to offer.

Right now, I’m heavily involved in “The Spirit
Path” series. “The Spirit Path” book one, published back in June of this year and
there are two more to follow. Soon, the editing process will begin for book two,
“The Secret Path” and I’m near completion in regards to book three, “The
Forbidden Path”. Please be patient, I promise, you won’t be disappointed…

I also have book trailers for “The Spirit Path”
and “Off-Duty Christmas”. Check them out… and please feel free to leave me a
comment. I would love to know what you think.

Tammy Tate was born and raised in Hollywood, Florida. She lived in
Las Vegas for 7 years and Texas for 18. Her and her husband, just celebrated
their 34th wedding anniversary. Her secret to a long marriage? It's
easy when you marry your best friend and by all means, keep the home fires
burning.

When she's not breathing life into her characters, she enjoys
reading, riding on the back of her husband’s Goldwing and coming up with fresh,
new ideas for her next book. Among her favorite movies are romance, science
fiction, fantasy, comedy and thrillers. Before writing, she was an Executive
Secretary, a Computer Consultant/Technician, and a Communications Officer
(Police Dispatcher).

She doesn't mind a challenge which has allowed her to drive a
late-model in a women's powder puff race, run barrels and poles in a play-day rodeo
and drive an 18-wheeler. Somewhere in between, she and her husband raised 3
wonderful children.